Jet Setting for 2010

The eye in the sky, er, on the ground at a tarmac in the Seattle area this week apparently broke the news of Air Canada's aircraft decked out for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

According to published reports, the photo and video sort of scooped a planned photo opp/unveiling. In the P.R. biz (or any biz, for that matter), one might call this a S.N.A.F.U. (a time or two similar scoops have foiled my own client P.R. efforts - D'OH!).

One time, in Denver, working at the U.S. Olympic Festival Opening Ceremony in Mile High Stadium (summer of 1995), the IOC deployed UPS couriers to deliver the official NOC invitations for Atlanta's Games, and in an elaborate media event/element of the Opening, a UPS plane -- clad with Olympic sponsorship logos -- buzzed the stadium several times (spectacular! so close you could almost see the pilot's logo hat). Then a few minutes later a brown-clad courier ran into the venue (after leaping from a brown package car, I believe) and handed the official IOC invitation to a waiting U.S. Olympic official. The whole thing was punctuated with a live performance by Kenny "I'm Alright" and "Footloose" Loggins. (Disclosure: UPS is a current client of Edelman, the P.R. firm where I work. I was neither employed by Edelman nor UPS at the time of the 1995 event described above.)

For Air Canada, my vote would be to proceed with planned photo opp or flyover in the Winter Olympic City as the plane looks pretty darn cool!

(photo via JetPhotos.net, copyright Mike Head, Jet Wash Photos)